Food & Drink

Ask A Philadelphia Expert: Top Zucchini Bread Recipes

August 8 is National Zucchini Day. In honor of this versatile fruit, we asked Philadelphia experts for their takes on zucchini bread. Choose from a traditional spice recipe, a chocolate one and even a loaf with a hint of orange. These tasty breads are sure to be a hit today, and they’re also wonderful recipes to keep on hand into the fall.

Kerry Burns is the co-owner and head baker at Town Crier Bakery, a traditional-style local bakery in the quaint Peddler’s Village in Bucks County. It was in the early 1980s, while working as a pan washer in a mom-and-pop bakery, that Kerry’s passion for baking began. In the spring of 2007, Kerry and his wife Roseann were able to fulfill his dream of owning his own bakery. They took over the failing bakery in Peddler’s Village and made it their own. With a dedication to exceptional customer service, quality baked goods and fair prices, Kerry and Roseann were able to revive the bakery and bring it back to its original glory. Adding to their success story, Kerry and Roseann Burns will open a second Town Crier Bakery location in Montgomery County in the fall of 2014.

Dinner at R2L isn’t complete without a dessert from Peter Scarola. The head pastry chef of the hip restaurant on the 37th floor of Two Liberty Place wows diners with artistic treats made with fresh, seasonal ingredients. His impressive culinary resume includes achievements such as having his dessert at the Inn at St. Peter’s Village named Philadelphia Magazine’s “Best Dessert” in 2007. The Philadelphia-area native began working with Daniel Stern Restaurants in 2008, helping to open MidAtlantic Tap Room in 2009 and R2L in 2010. Peter Scarola was recognized as a “Rising Star Patry Chef in Philadelphia” in 2013 through StarChefs.

Orange Zucchini Bread:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

2 extra-large eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup granulated sugar

Zest of 1 orange

1 teaspoon orange blossom water

1/2 cup apricot jam

2-1/2 cups grated zucchini

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup toasted and chopped hazelnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Grease a loaf pan with butter and lightly coat with flour.

In a mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and coriander. Set the bowl aside.

Add the eggs, vegetable oil, sugar, orange zest, orange blossom water and jam to a large mixing bowl. Beat until combined.

Mix in the zucchini and salt.

Gradually add the sifted dry ingredients and hazelnuts, folding them into the batter until combined.

Pour into the loaf pan and bake for approximately 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the bread comes out clean.

Karen Boyd Rohde grew up living above her father and grandfather’s bakery in Northeast Philadelphia. In April of 1983, she opened Bredenbeck’s Bakery in Chestnut Hill, using her family’s recipes. Over the next 30 plus years, she learned a lot about the preferences of her customers – recipes of her father’s that didn’t work in Chestnut Hill and the type of chocolate that her clientele loves the most. Bredenbeck’s has become a wedding favorite in the Philadelphia area, and it has even created birthday cakes for celebrities such as Elton John and Bon Jovi. In 2012, the bakery was honored with the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Family-Owned Business of the Year award. Beyond the many accolades, the part that Karen loves most is making people happy by giving them a place they can come for the simple luxury of delicious, affordable dessert.

Spiced Zucchini Bread:

9 cups granulated sugar

1-1/2 lbs. eggs

3 cups oil

4 Tablespoons baking powder

2 Tablespoons baking soda

2 Tablespoons salt

3 Tablespoons ground cloves

3 Tablespoons ground cinnamon

5 lbs. zucchini

6-1/2 cups bread flour

2 cups bread flour

3 cups pecans, chopped (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large mixing bowl, whip sugar and eggs using an electric mixer.

Slowly add the oil to the mixture, mixing to combine.

In a separate bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients (except the zucchini and pecans).

Switch the whip attachment to a paddle attachment on your mixer.

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing to combine.

Stir in the zucchini and pecans.

Pour batter into bread loafs and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Let cool and enjoy. Wrap uneaten loaves in cellophane and freeze for a later date.

Michelle Hein is the social media editor for a women’s fashion company in Bucks County by day and a self-proclaimed food and drink fanatic by night and weekend. She enjoys attending wine classes, trying new recipes in the kitchen and going to old favorites and new restaurants alike in the Bucks County and Philadelphia area. If the writing gig doesn’t pan out, she constantly dreams of owning her own bakery…perhaps connected to the restaurant/bar that her lawyer fiance would love to open.
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